The Impact of Root-Derived Resources on Forest Soil Invertebrates Depends on Body Size and Trophic Position

Bluhm, Sarah L.; Eitzinger, Bernhard; Bluhm, Christian; Ferlian, Olga; Heidemann, Kerstin; Ciobanu, Marcel; Maraun, Mark; Scheu, Stefan

doi:10.3389/ffgc.2021.622370

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 85 publications

(117 reference statements)

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“…In addition to living as predator/scavenger, species such as Oppiella nova , the most abundant soil mesofauna species at our study sites, may also feed on ectomycorrhizal fungi, known to be enriched in 15 N (Potapov & Tiunov, 2016 ; Remén et al, 2008 ). The actual resource used by O. nova and other species of the predator/scavenger guild of Oribatida needs further attention including experiments manipulating the input of root‐derived resources (Bluhm et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High consistency of trophic niches in generalist arthropod species (Oribatida, Acari) across soil depth and forest type

Cordes

Maraun

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Many traits including trophic niche parameters are attributed to species. However, generalist species may vary in trophic niches with environments, making species‐based knowledge hard to extrapolate beyond local food webs. Here we tested trophic consistency in oribatid mite species (Acari), one of the most abundant arthropods that occupy all trophic levels in soil food webs. We used stable isotope analysis to compare trophic niches of 40 Oribatida species that co‐occur in litter (O L ) and soil (0–5 cm, mainly O F/H , A H ) of five forest types (native European beech, non‐native Douglas fir, range‐expanding Norway spruce, two beech–conifer mixed forests). Although stable isotope signatures of bulk material differed between litter and soil, 13 C and 15 N values of Oribatida species were remarkably stable irrespective of soil depth. Furthermore, Oribatida were more enriched in 13 C in European beech than in coniferous forests, but forest type little affected 15 N values of Oribatida across a range of site conditions. We conclude that Oribatida species occupy virtually identical trophic niches (δ 13 C and δ 15 N values) irrespective of the soil depth they colonize and that forest management including non‐native tree species little affects trophic position (δ 15 N values) of oribatid mites. Our findings suggest that the trophic position can be used as a trait in community analysis of Oribatida across forest ecosystems. Our results further indicate that trophic niches of generalist species can be highly consistent irrespective of environment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High consistency of trophic niches in generalist arthropod species (Oribatida, Acari) across soil depth and forest type

Cordes

Maraun

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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“…However, some Oribatida species such as Oppiella nova has been suggested to feed on ectomycorrhizal fungi, known to be enriched in 15 N (Remén et al, 2008;. Notably, Oppiella nova was the most abundant soil mesofauna species at our study sites, and the resources used by this species, therefore, need further attention including experiments manipulating the input of root-derived resources (Bluhm et al, 2021).…”

Section: Variation With Forest Typementioning

confidence: 85%

High consistency of trophic niches in soil microarthropod species (Oribatida, Acari) across soil depth and forest type

Lu¹,

Cordes²,

Maraun³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Individuals of species may differ in resource use within and between populations. High intraspecific variation in resource use may hamper the co-existence of species in natural communities. To better understand the intraspecific variation in trophic niches of oribatid mites (Oribatida, Acari), we quantified stable isotope ratios of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) of 40 Oribatida species that co-occurred in litter and soil of five forest types (European beech, Douglas fir, Norway spruce, two beech–conifer mixed forests) covering a range of environmental conditions. We found that although stable isotopes in litter and soil varied among forest types, δ13C and δ15N values of Oribatida and their trophic niches were remarkably stable between litter and soil, and also among forest types. We considered four trophic guilds of Oribatida representing the guild composition of the regional species pool; notably, trophic niches of Oribatida guilds also did not vary with soil depth. Furthermore, δ13C of Oribatida was more enriched (detrital shift) in European beech than in coniferous forests, but δ15N of Oribatida did not vary among forest types, indicating that basal resources of Oribatida are variable, but trophic positions are highly consistent across forest ecosystems. We conclude that trophic positions of Oribatida species and guilds are consistent across different forest types, and Oribatida species occupy virtually identical trophic niches irrespective of the soil depth they are colonizing. Overall, the results suggest that low intraspecific variability facilitates Oribatida niche differentiation and species coexistence.

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“…For example, plant productivity is controlled by plant‐parasitic nematodes (Guo et al, 2016), and microbial biomass and community composition could be regulated by microbe‐eating nematodes (Jiang et al, 2017). Moreover, soil nematode itself was also a key prey for other soil animals (Bluhm et al, 2021). Thus, nematode was believed to work as a hub of soil food web and serve as an indicator to characterize the functional state of an ecosystem (Bongers & Ferris, 1999).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accelerated temporal turnover of the soil nematode community under alpine grassland degradation

et al. 2022

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Soil nematodes play pivotal roles in the soil food web. However, the trophic regulation on nematodes in the soil micro-food web and its temporal dynamics are less explored. Here, we investigated the seasonal dynamics of soil nematode community in an alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau at non-degraded (ND), moderately degraded (MD) and severely degraded (SD) stages, either under open-top chamber warming (W) or not (NW). Nematode richness was higher in SD than in MD and ND that did not differ, accompanied by a clear shift from the bottom-up regulation via belowground productivity in ND to the top-down regulation via omnivore and predator nematodes in SD. The intensified top-down regulation in SD was explained by increased proportions of predator and omnivore nematodes, likely induced by the expanded soil pore size in SD. As a result, accelerated temporal turnover of nematode community was observed under grassland degradation, which were 0.006 (slope, p = 0.78), 0.045 (p = 0.07), and 0.077 (p = 0.001) in ND, MD, and SD, respectively. Moreover, grassland degradation strengthened the association between nematode density and ecosystem respiration, whose slope was higher in SD (0.0025, p < 0.05) than in MD (0.0008, p < 0.01) or ND (insignificant). In contrast, warming did not affect the temporal turnover of the nematode community, richness, nor its role in ecosystem respiration. Overall, we revealed the accelerated temporal turnover of nematode community and its strengthened role in determining ecosystem respiration under alpine grassland degradation, suggesting that trophic cascade changes under ecosystem degradation may alter the ecosystem functioning.Kui Wang and Kai Xue contributed equally to this study.

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The Impact of Root-Derived Resources on Forest Soil Invertebrates Depends on Body Size and Trophic Position

Cited by 15 publications

References 85 publications

High consistency of trophic niches in generalist arthropod species (Oribatida, Acari) across soil depth and forest type

High consistency of trophic niches in generalist arthropod species (Oribatida, Acari) across soil depth and forest type

High consistency of trophic niches in soil microarthropod species (Oribatida, Acari) across soil depth and forest type

Accelerated temporal turnover of the soil nematode community under alpine grassland degradation

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